Satellite Sees Russian Meteor Explosion from Space

The meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains early this morning (Feb. 15) was spotted from space by a weather satellite as the space rock streaked through the atmosphere and exploded.

The photos were captured by the satellite Meteosat-9 as the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere, causing a sonic boom and injuring nearly 1,000 according to press reports in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) east of Moscow.

The meteor explosion is not related to today's close flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14 , NASA scientists say. This story will be updated shortly with more details on the images.